US President Joe Biden confirmed that he had reached an agreement with French President Emmanuel Macron to use profits from frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine. When asked if they had discussed the matter and reached an agreement, Biden replied, “Yes and yes,” on Sunday.
The Group of Seven Nations and the European Union are considering ways to utilise profits from immobilised Russian assets in the West to provide Ukraine with a substantial up-front loan and ensure its financing through 2025.
Around $280.9 billion (260 billion euros) of Russian central bank funds are frozen globally, with the majority held in the EU.
These funds generate annual profits of 2.5 billion euros ($2.7 billion) to 3.5 billion euros ($3.78 billion), which the EU claims are not contractually owed to Russia and therefore represent a windfall.
The proposal, championed by the US, aims to use these profits as a steady revenue stream to service a large $50 billion loan that could be raised on the market.
Russia claims that any diversion of the profits from its frozen funds would constitute theft.
While some countries have expressed concerns about tapping profits from Russian assets, a US Treasury official stated on Tuesday that the United States and its G7 partners are making progress on this initiative.
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